REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE. XCVII 



the friends of agricultural proo-ress accept this principle in practice as 

 well as in theor}'. Under present conditions a large number of the 

 experiment-station workers are attempting too many different kinds of 

 work, and the progress of the station is seriousl}' hindered from this 

 cause. 



One result of the lack of a sufficient number of well-trained and 

 experienced workers in our agricultural institutions is that the best 

 men are constantly being shifted from one institution to another or 

 are departing to outside enterprises offering larger salaries and other 

 attractions. The past j^ear has witnessed an unusually large number 

 of such changes in the personnel of the experiment stations. This is 

 a yer}^ serious matter, since the time element in the conduct of agri- 

 cultural inyestigations is an important one. Until the tenure of office 

 in our stations is much more stable than at present we must expect 

 that there will be much waste of work and funds in incomplete inyesti- 

 gations due to the frequent shifting of the officers in charge. There 

 is also need of increased funds for the general expenses connected with 

 agricultural inyestigations. 



COOPERATIOX OF THE STATIONS WITH THE DEPARTMENT. 



jJuring the past year many cooperatiye enterprises between the differ- 

 ent Bureaus and Diyisions of this Department and the experiment 

 stations haye been continued and contracts haye been made for a 

 considerable number of new inyestigations on this plan. In order to more 

 clearly define the conditions under which such cooperatiye arrange- 

 ments should be made a plan was formulated for conducting this work 

 and transmitted to the directors of stations as well as to the chiefs of 

 Bureaus and Diyisions of the Department. This has cleared awa}" some 

 difficulties hitherto attending arrangements with the stations, and 

 especially has defined the responsibilities of both the Department and 

 stations in such enterprises. 



The work undertaken conjointly with the stations is of the most 

 yaried character, but under the system deyised there is no friction, 

 and it is belieyed that much good will result to both the Department 

 and the stations by this close union of interests. In all cases the gen- 

 eral policy is to bring about a definite and clear understanding regard- 

 ing the responsibilities of the Department and the stations, and when 

 this is accomplished the carrying out of the details is a comparatiyel}^ 

 simple matter. The Department is not concerned with local State 

 problems, but there are questions not bounded by State lines which 

 the Department can take up, and which, with the cooperation of one 

 or more stations, should be earnestly inyestigated. In this way the 

 Department becomes the medium for the combining of interests in a 

 way that will be helpful to all. 

 AGR 1902 ^'II 



